Kolkata: Home minister P. Chidambaram said on Tuesday that the government would regain control of areas under Maoist stranglehold within six months through a “measured, calibrated and careful" offensive.

“This operation is not for killing anyone. We care for them, they are our people," he said after discussing a joint action plan with the two deputy chief ministers of Jharkhand, the chief ministers of West Bengal and Orissa and senior officers from Bihar.

“(The) progress will be slow... it is not a cricket match, where you keep watching the scoreboard after every over," he added.